52 ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHERN SEAS. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Crow's-nest. — Look-out. — First Walrus seen. — Find them 

 very shy. — Great Ice-pack. — Two Walruses shot. — Lay-to 

 in a dense Fog. — Wreck of a Sloop in the Ice. — Cure for 

 frost-bitten Feet. — Sketch of the Spitzbergen Walrus-hunt- 

 er.— Profits of the Trade.— Truck System.— Cold.— Chil- 

 blains. — Seal-shooting on the Ice. — Method of hunting the 

 Great Seal. — Dimensions of Great Seal. — Seal-shooting in 

 the Water. 



In a brig like Ericson's there is always a "crow's- 

 nest 1 ' (a contrivance in the shape of a cask, large 

 enough for a man to get into, and made either of 

 wood or canvas) fixed at the main-top-gallant-mast- 

 head; but in a small vessel such as we had, the 

 look-out man simply sits on the main gaff or the 

 topsail yard. From our topsail yard, with a good 

 telescope, we could see a single seal on white ice in 

 a clear day about four miles off, and from a crow's- 

 nest as high as Ericson's I believe about double 

 that distance — a prodigious advantage for the lar- 

 ger vessel. As may be supposed, it is rather a cold 

 position than otherwise, that on the topsail yard, 

 and the men, not unnaturally, are apt to neglect 

 this all-important duty ; but, in sailing within sight 

 of ice, a careful man, with a telescope, ought to be 

 constantly there, because, if the ice is rough, even a 

 large herd of walruses may be in sight one minute 



